* It’s always wise to take a deep breath during horrific scandals like the ghastly Burr Oak cemetery debacle before pointing too many fingers…

I thought I might see [at the Sheriff Dart press conference] another prominent politico with 19th Ward Democratic organization connections: Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes.

A few years ago Hynes campaigned on cemetery rip-offs and made news splash after news splash about abuses in what he calls the “death care industry.” He vowed to fight them. His Web page is full of such vows.

Though Hynes’ office is responsible for the oversight of privately owned cemeteries like Burr Oak, he wasn’t at the news conference. His office said he has oversight but little legal authority to enforce cemetery upkeep.

Perhaps Hynes was busy making plans to get into the U.S. Senate race. Sen. Roland “Tombstone” Burris, who cozied up to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich for the Senate appointment, has apparently decided to drop out of politics.

* From Pam Zekman’s report last night…

It’s hard to believe, but state regulators say that other than checking out records, they literally have blinders on when it comes to checking out conditions at cemeteries. It’s not their jurisdiction, they say. […]

[Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart] was shocked to learn how little oversight there are for cemeteries in Illinois. So were we. Cemeteries are licensed by the Illinois comptroller and required to keep 15 percent of the cost of a grave in a trust fund for cemetery care. Documents show Burr Oak had almost $2 million in its trust funds.

The comptroller’s office says the law only allows them to audit the cemetery care trust funds. Critics argue that when they come to inspect the books, they should take a look around. If they had, they might have found the desecrated graves at Burr Oak before the body count reached 300, and it’s still climbing. […]

Talk about lack of enforcement. The comptroller’s office, which investigates misuse of burial trust funds, says it’s had 20 complaints about Burr Oak but referred them to the cemetery. [emphasis added]

* OK, first of all, the comptroller’s oversight is, indeed, limited, as Zekman pointed out. Here’s the official explanation…

The Comptroller’s Office has limited legal authority over cemeteries, specifically focusing on consumer funds accepted by the cemetery that may be held in trust. The office licenses all funeral homes and cemeteries that sell arrangements in advance of death to ensure proper safeguards are taken with the consumers’ monies. The office requires annual financial reporting and conducts audits to ensure financial compliance.

Larry adds an important point…

…[Hynes] has very little power to enforce the law. Why? Because the industry wanted it like that.

True. From a 2000 story in Illinois Issues…

More specifically, Hynes would require an owner to provide “reasonable maintenance” of the property. […]

The plan has received bipartisan support in the General Assembly, but it faces some hurdles. The Illinois Cemetery and Funeral Home Association is opposed to the package as drafted. The 200-member trade group argues that cookie-cutter standards are unrealistic.

As Larry also notes, the Senate Majority Leader back then was a funeral director, which made it tough on Hynes.

* OK, well, what about those “20 complaints” about Burr Oak? Turns out, that’s 20 over the past decade. The problems apparently started four years ago. There was just one complaint filed this year, according to the comptroller’s office. That complaint was about maintenance of the facility. It was filed in April and it concerned potholes in the road and standing water, the comptroller’s office said.

* And Zekman’s claim that if the comptroller’s office had just “looked around” while they were auditing the books they might have found something? Well, a Google search shows a major Chicago Tribune story about the maintenance problems at the cemetery back in May of this year…

Burr Oak Cemetery — known as an historic resting site for a number of prominent African-Americans — has been drawing complaints from visitors appalled by the apparent lack of care and upkeep.

Sunken or tilting gravestones, unmanageable roads, rivers of rainwater, and an abundance of uncut weeds dot the Alsip cemetery where Emmett Till, blues legend Dinah Washington and heavyweight boxing champion Ezzard Charles are buried along with many other famous figures.Complaints over the years have led to reprimands from the state and a bevy of fines issued by village officials. But little has improved, probably because laws regarding the cemetery don’t come with enforcement powers.

So, a reporter and a photographer both visited the cemetery looking for a story, but neither noticed that graves had been dug up and resold. I’m not completely sure that the “look around” criticism has much value. It took a pretty intense police investigation to find those problems. Just looking around obviously wasn’t enough.

* From the Southtown Star…

The scam came to light after someone who paid [former Burr Oak general manager Carolyn Towns] cash asked another cemetery employee about the purchase of a plot. When no record of the transaction could be found, the Perpetua Corp. president questioned Towns in March. Court documents show Towns confessed to stealing the $8,400 cash deposit and showed company officials all the other cases in which she kept the cash.

The general manager’s firing was reported to the comptroller’s office. The report included notification that the local police had been called into the case, the comptroller’s office said today.

Also, since the stolen cash was “off the books,” the comptroller’s office says, it wouldn’t show up in an audit of the official records.

* Without a doubt, Hynes should’ve been all over this thing once the cemetery scandal story broke. He wasn’t. That’s not good for him at all. But whether he’s actually to blame for this mess is entirely another matter The fact that he’s from the 19th Ward shouldn’t automatically mean he’s guilty, no matter what some may think.

Still, his office should immediately release all 20 complaints. Were there any hints over the past four years? If so, I, for one, would like to know about it.

And, considering the Tribune story back in May - which was bad enough as it was even without the dug up graves aspect - Hynes should’ve been a whole lot more proactive.

But I’m not sure we should be burning him at the stake just yet.

Yet.

*** UPDATE *** From the comptroller’s office, here is a list of the complaints filed…

5/13/02 Care related complaint regarding flooding.
5/6/05 Inquiry regarding an exhumation.
5/9/05 Care /professionalism complaint against CBOC staff.
11/1/05 Consumer received 2 headstones with wrong design.
12/13/05 Consumer wants to change the design on grave marker.
5/26/06 Care complaint regarding drainage/pot holes in roads.
6/15/06 Care complaint regarding raising of markers and potholes in roads.
3/5/07 Mother’s grave was not opened on time.
4/23/07 Care complaint regarding pumped water making her parent’s section inaccessible.
5/16/07 Care complaint regarding potholes.
10/16/07 Care complaint regarding poor upkeep in cemetery.
10/22/07 Consumer’s mother was temporarily displaced by CBOC staff.
10/26/07 Family spaces occupied by non-family members.
10/30/07 Care complaint on overgrown grass and fence down.
2/19/08 Contract dispute regarding open/closing fees and Saturday burial fees.
5/29/08 Care complaint regarding mud and water in cemetery.
6/3/08 Care complaint regarding water drainage.
6/9/08 Care complaint regarding sitting water, potholes, and poor grass cutting.
11/19/08 Consumer feels his mother was not buried deep enough. Cemetery verified that depth was sufficient.
4/23/09 Care complaint regarding standing water and potholes in the road.

[CBOC stands for the cemetery staff]